09 - 1/24/24 : Flesh and Blood

"I'll feast on your innards and make charms out of your bones!"  

Maud Chiselbone

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  Before heading to the docks, Melfina relayed Dahlia's request to visit Torrga Icevein, her father's old boss, to the party. Since it was on the way, the party agreed and stopped in at Icevein Caravans. They met Torrga within, a rugged dwarven woman with a raspy voice damaged by decades of smoking.   After bribing Torrga for information, the party was able to learn that Dzaan's expedition, which Sephek talked to Torrga about before his departure, had a long-abandoned wizard's tower as one of their destinations. It was the landmark they sought when they set out and never returned. Torrga identified the tower's location; far to the north, past the Stoughdale Wilds and just east of the Broken Blade tribe's advance camp.   The Lonesome Few noted this lead and proceeded to the Three Streams ferry dock. They quickly realized that they were not alone, and boarded the main ferry boat with weapons drawn. After breaking down the door to the cabin, they were met with an unexpected face; Valdís Siegsdóttir, one of Ragna's older siblings.   Valdís responded defensively at first, given Ragna's presence and Melfina's somewhat intrusive nature. When asked what she was doing here, she was rather free with information; she explained that Siegmar, the King of the Broken Blade tribe, was traveling southward through the region on his way to deliver an ultimatum to the Council of Speakers in Lystheim. Valdís was serving as an advance scout to ensure that the route was safe for the king's passage.   Ragna tried to appeal to Valdís, trying to make her consider the possibility that King Siegmar didn't have her or the rest of their siblings' best interests at heart. Valdís would hear none of it, citing her belief that Siegmar would make the difficult decisions needed to keep the tribe alive in the brutal winter.   While speaking to Valdís, the party realized that the ferry cabin held several beds, implying Valdís was not alone. However, other members of her scouting party were nowhere to be seen.   When asked about the disappearances in Three Streams and if the Broken Blade was behind it, Valdís denied this, saying that she was present to scout, not to kill. She did have information on a lead, however; she suspected that a nearby cave on the shores of the Mirrored Reservoir was a likely lair for a creature stalking the people of Three Streams. She suggested that the party start there.   Leaving Valdís, the party reconvened just outside the ferry house and spoke as they walked. It was confirmed that Ragna was one of the children of King Siegmar and thus technically Broken Blade royalty, their intended sacrifice notwithstanding. Ragna spoke more about some of his siblings, including his eldest brother Ysmir; a brutally efficient warrior who was surrounded by magical auroras that danced around his being. Ragna also pointed out that Valdís was the most reasonable of his siblings, and that most were far too dangerous to be reasoned with.   The Lonesome Few arrived at the cave pointed out by Valdís and followed it in. They soon found traces of blood and bone from recent kills, and upon delving further, they came upon the source. At the cave's heart, stirring a cauldron filled with humanoid organs and viscera, was a vicious lake hag named Maud Chiselbone. Upon noticing the party, Maud declared her intent to mix them into her cauldron with the rest of the stew, and summoned her pet carrion crawlers and a will-o-the-wisp to attack.   Ragna charged in but was intercepted by one of the crawlers, whose poison paralyzed her and left her open to attack from Maud. Alith pushed forward slowly with Blammo while Dahlia supported her with arrows from afar, and Melfina kept a carrion crawler locked down in the northern tunnel via judicious use of Maximillian's earthen grasp.   Maud summoned a disgusting simulacrum of Ragna made of seaweed and refuse, which attacked Alith as she pushed forward. Although she was able to shake the attack off and dismiss the rotten effigy, she was eventually set upon by a carrion crawler, which slowed her progress. Ragna managed to shake themself free and kept up the attack, forcing Maud to retreat into the crevasses inside the cave by turning into a slush of brackish water and maggots.   Using fairy fire after being freed from paralysis, Alith was able to mark Maud and anticipate her point of emergence from the walls, and was able to slay the hag. Alith was paralyzed by one of the crawlers, but the rest of the party was able to rescue her from the dangerous situation but coming to her aid. The rest of the carrion crawlers were dispatched soon after, though one was able to escape.   The party took stock of the grisly scene, and Melfina's arcane knowledge tipped her off on the cauldron's true nature; a cauldron of plenty, capable of turning base water into filling, though somewhat bland soup. Such an item would be crucial in keeping the people of at least one of the Ten Towns fed. The party used magic and the generous application of vinegar from Alith's alchemy jug to clean the cauldron of viscera and strapped it to Ragna's back for transport.   Further in, the party also discovered a chest which a key dropped by Maud was able to open. Several severed undead hands crawled out from the treasure within, but a single cast of magic missile from Melfina was able to dispatch them. She soon realized that this waterlogged, rusted chest contained the rumored lost treasure of the White Lady of Three Streams; a small fortune of 600 gold coins. With this tucked under their arm as well, the Lonesome Few returned to Three Streams.   Once back in town, the party reported their success back to Speaker Waylen, who seemed quite shaken and agitated. He thanked them profusely for their service to Three Streams and rewarded them with a scroll of fireball for their troubles. When told about the cauldron of plenty, he was overcome with emotion at the potential good the cauldron could do, and paid the party an additional 600 gold for the item. He decided to keep its presence under wraps to ensure its capabilities could be ascertained before beginning to distribute it to the people, however.   When asked about his nervousness, Speaker Waylen explained that a messenger of the Broken Blade tribe had brought forth the announcement that King Siegmar had passed through Mirlake and would soon be passing through Three Streams as well, making his way down south. A diplomatic mission, it was said, though it seemed more like a thinly veiled threat of violence to come.   Waylen asked the party to stand with the militia of Three Streams as he spoke to the King in good faith, just in case disaster were to strike in the proceedings. Ragna refused, not wanting to reveal her presence to Siegmar. The rest of the party agreed, to get a closer glimpse at the barbarian leader if nothing else.   As they were leaving, Melfina noticed Prudence, the speaker's secretary, looking intently at the cauldron. When confronted, Prudence explained that she was merely taken aback by the existence of such an item, as she was not used to good news in the harsh climate of the Eternal Winter.   The militia took to the streets half a day later, and were greeted by none other than King Siegmar, the Broken Blade himself. As the king and his guard stopped at a crossroads, the streets fell silent, the air full of tension…